Video captured the moment protesters in Portland cornered police in a garage during riots over the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.
The footage shows a crowd of angry protesters aggressively yelling at the police dressed in full riot gear. The group of nearly a dozen officers are seen backing up into a garage.
The door of the garage slowly closes as the protesters continue to confront the police, with one demonstrator even trying to push open the garage door.
Many of the protesters shouted profanities at the officers, with one repeatedly screaming: 'What's up?'
Around 150 protesters on Friday started small fires that were quickly extinguished, according to an eyewitness, who said no tear gas or rubber bullets were fired.
Protesters in Portland cornered police into a garage during riots over the Kyle Rittenhouse's not-guilty verdict
Nearly a dozen officers dressed in riot gear were cornered by angry protestors in Portland on Friday
Portland Police are equipped in riot gear as they square off with protestors who police said smashed windows and threw objects at police on Friday
The police officers were met by a crowd of angry protestors in the streets of Portland
Hours after the verdict, police in Portland were forced to declare a riot after about 200 protesters turned destructive, damaging the front gate of the Multnomah County Justice Center and clashing with officers.
'Due to violent, destructive behavior by a significant part of the crowd, the gathering in downtown Portland is a RIOT. All participants are instructed to proceed away to the WEST,' the Portland Police Bureau wrote on Twitter.
Portland Police Bureau Chief Chuck Lovell said during a Friday press conference that it was 'reasonable' to expect protests in that city as well.
'Here in Portland especially, it's reasonable to expect there will be some type of reaction to the verdict,' Lovell told reporters. 'Like we've said many, many times, we're supportive of peaceful protest, people exercising their First Amendment rights.'
Masses of people gathered coast-to-coast Friday night to decry Rittenhouse's acquittal in protests that reflected the divisiveness and anger stoked by the high-profile case.
Rittenhouse, 18, was acquitted by jurors on all charges - two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide for wounding a third man, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety - after killing two people during protests marred by arson, rioting and looting on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man.
According to Portland police, rioters threw objects at officers, smashed the rear window of a police car as well as windows from the city print shop and spray-painted the justice center building with graffiti that read 'all cops are Kyles, no justice, no peace', FOX 12 reported.
Protesters were warned they would be arrested and were subject to force if they remained in the area.
A small trash fire was started near the Justice Center by protestors who were declared rioters by police after police said they became destructive and were told to clear the area
A protestor blocks a Portland Police vehicle as officers clashed with protestors who took to the streets to decry Rittenhouse's acquittal on Friday
The Justice Center in Portland, Oregon, was painted with graffiti calling for it to be burned down after Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges in court in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Friday
The Justice Center in Portland, Oregon, was also egged overnight on Friday as angry protesters took to the streets following the reading of Rittenhouse's verdict
In Chicago, looters broke into a Neiman Marcus and a Game Stop on the South Side as protests went on in the downtown area.
FOX 32 reported that 15 males stormed into a Magnificent Mile Neiman Marcus store, stealing merchandise and escaping in three separate vehicles.
Overhead footage shows a South Side GameStop store with broken glass and merchandise on the ground, but police did not confirm if it was lootex, FOX 32 reported.
In New York City, hundreds gathered outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and scores more were seen marching with signs that branded Rittenhouse as a 'racist killer' and the judicial system as biased.
'The message is that when you stand up for black liberation, when you stand up for black lives, no matter who you are you automatically become a target of the system,' Na-Lakan Masego, a protester, told CBS New York.
Another speaker at the rally said the jury's verdict was a blow to the entire nation.
'By allowing Kyle Rittenhouse to walk away, this entire country – this government – has slapped us all in the face for the millionth time,' he told the crowd. 'We cannot allow them to continue treating us like we do not exist because they hurt us.'
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said the issue revolves around the definition of self-defense, which Rittenhouse claimed to be acting in when he shot the three men.
'It also depends who has a gun, and it also depends on what they're actually fighting for,' he told CBS New York. 'It seems if you are trying to say something about Black Lives Matter or something about justice and equity, it doesn't have the same weight.'
Others chanted 'no justice, no peace,' and 'these racist cops have got to go' as they marched.
One event speaker called on attendees to continue participating in such events as long as it remains necessary, despite the approaching winter.
'Black lives are still mattering and they're still going to be shot down,' she said. 'And when we call on you to show up, I need you to f***ing show up.'
A group of 40 to 50 'anarchists' tore through the quiet residential neighborhood of Middle Village, damaging property and ripping down American flags, officials said.
The middle-class neighborhood in Queens is known as conservative-leaning and sympathetic to the police, making it a ripe target for the ultra-leftist mob venting fury over the Rittenhouse acquittal
In a visit to Middle Village on Saturday afternoon, Mayor-elect Eric Adams slammed the destructive behavior, saying that randomly targeting private citizens over political grievances is unacceptable.
'We're not going to live like this in New York City. And you're not going to have to live, walking home at night with someone trying to attack you. We're not going to allow these extremists on both ends to win,' Adams said, WABC-TV reported.
'We're going to win, this is going to be a safe city,' said Adams, a Democrat and former NYPD captain who surged to victory in the mayor's race with his tough-on-crime talk.
Arrested in the Middle Village disturbance were: Kyrk Freeman, 22; Charles Edmonds, 37; Jonathan Lefokowitz, 38; Daniel Wattley, 28; and Alexander Davis, 33.
All are facing multiple charges including riot, obstructing governmental administration, unlawful assembly, and walking in the roadway.
In Portland, the central police precinct was vandalized with graffiti on Friday night
A patrol sergeant vehicle's rear hatch window was shattered during the protest in Portland
Vandals also broke the windows of the city print shop on Southwest Madison Street in Oregon's capital
In Los Angeles, the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police called on its supporters to step up in protest.
'Kyle walked,' the group said on its Facebook page.
It invited protesters to meet Friday afternoon at Florence and Normandie, where outraged masses gathered in 1992 after a jury acquitted four police officers in the brutal beating of Rodney King, sparking the LA riots.
Kenosha itself remained largely quiet as the night wore on.
A crowd of around 40 people gathered at the courthouse but remained peaceful. Many carried signs, including one saying 'Welcome to AmeriKKKa.'
A middle-aged man, wearing a Stars and Stripes hat tried to provoke the crowd with a sign saying 'Rittenhouse Rules!'
One young woman was arrested after she scrawled the words 'White supremacists are cowards' and 'Judge Schroeder must go' on the courthouse steps. She was referring to the trial's judge, Bruce Schroeder.
Police, who had largely stayed out of sight as the crowd grew, swooped in quickly and hauled her away.
President Joe Biden has urged peace, saying the country must abide by the jury's verdict.
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